


Dreams for Nobody

by Kye (Kyelidescope)



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Action, Drama, F/F, OC, Other, fan character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-06-07 23:50:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6830413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyelidescope/pseuds/Kye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before all the action and tense battles of the showdown with the seven lights and thirteen darknesses, Riku, the new Keyblade master, was assigned his first mission - To manage a heartless outbreak in Radiant Garden, and eliminate the cause of this outbreak. </p><p>There he is aided by Lea - a fellow Keyblade wielder who used to be affiliated with organization XIII - and another Keyblade Master by the name of Yume. </p><p>But Yume isn't what she seems to be, and solving this outbreak just becomes harder.</p><p>AN (1/28/17) This story has gone through beta reading and has been edited for grammar and common sense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> note: Skip this if you must, it's pretty long. Don't let this personal note hinder your interests of the story ;)
> 
> If you came here on your own, this story is a spinoff of my fanfiction 'Change of Heart', in which it tells of Riku's first mission as a keyblade master and how he came to meet my FC Yume - who appears in the series as a *cameo* (?) - and why they broke up (Yeah spoilers, but if you came from the main series it's already said they broke up.)
> 
> If you came from the main series, you already have some idea of how this tale will begin, what will happen, and how it will end. 
> 
> Yume is a fan character I made for the series, to which I used to integrate her into the main series of Kingdom hearts - and like many others, wrote her into my depiction of KH3 (Which didn't work out for personal and creative reasons) - but decided to scrap the idea of putting her into the official storylines. This story idea is sitting in the closet for awhile now, although I originally wanted it to be a tale in which many worlds are crossed - but it proved to be too much, so it was scrapped initially. 
> 
> I didn't want to abandon my fan characters - although I honestly didn't know what to do with them if I did (Especially those Sonic FCs that were too many to manage) - so I'll start with Yume, only that her story will be shorter than planned - One world instead of several worlds.
> 
> To aid your visualisation of the story, I'll probably work on the character sheet, but that'll have to wait since I have GCSEs as I'm writing this note (5/12/16)
> 
> Anyway, without further ado, please enjoy the story!

At first glance, the assassin was underdressed; wearing a hoodie and zip up boots. Her Keyblade, a light and simple long weapon with a blade looking like an outstretched wing, was connected by a thin rod that resembles her throwing knives which now became one of its transformations should she ever need it. 

Which is now.  

A large swarm of heartless have appeared in the public gardens south of the remade plaza, one of the many locations rebuilt by the restoration committee in hopes of restoring the world back to its former glory. 

The assassin ran across the sidelines, throwing the knives at high accuracy, taking out many at once. Her comrade, a Keyblade Master sent by Yen Sid, was cleaning it up in another part of the gardens, dealing with the more destructive heartless. His own Keyblade, looking more like a sword with the rod of a demon's wing with a blade resembling angel wings, contrasted greatly with hers. 

Her knives returned back into her hand, back into the form of a Keyblade. She charged into the heat of the swarm, mercilessly rushing back and forth at the speed of lightning, it seems. Her comrade had been flinging his Keyblade like a boomerang, eliminating Heartless without taking a single step.  

Despite their efforts, it would still be long before this swarm is done, and they were already getting tired. 

_Take this!"_  She heard a third person exclaim, unleashing a great fireball onto the battlefield, finally wiping all of them out. 

"Someone's late to the party." She sarcastically commented on her friend's arrival. "Where were you?"

 

The newcomer, a young man with red, spiky hair, held a Keyblade that looks like a fireball was attached to his favorite chakrams he liked to show off. 

 

"I had a few obstacles on my way." He shamlessly answered. 

"You know, we almost had it." She protests. "You didn't have to use that huge fireball on us. We could've gotten hurt!" 

"Yeah, Lea." Her other comrade spoke up, approaching the two of them. "I was almost fried!"

 

"Really, from my point of view, you were outnumbered."

 

"Lea's tardiness aside," She changed the topic, hiding her annoyance. "What are we going to do about this? We haven't made any progress about this heartless outbreak nor have we located the source!"

"We searched this world top to bottom already," Lea protests. "I don't think we could stop this by just  _looking._ Even Riku had looked through this whole world  _twice._ "

She snuck a glance at Riku. To her, he was just an asset. A powerful asset. He may be smart, but he doesn't help out much, as she prefers to do this herself.   
The last time he stood out, she remembered the small accident when a fledgling Emerald Blue knocked Riku on top of Yume, a position that seemed too close for comfort. Now she could barely move on from that memory, like it was a plague. 

But really, the guy deserves some credit. Going through this world twice takes a long time.  

 

"Was there anything suspicious?" She asked. 

"Nothing." Riku bluntly answers. She supposes Riku doesn't think much of her either.  

Yume sighs. "I'm getting tired of this. You guys can go do whatever you want. I need to rest and think this out."

 

And with that, she left the area, her cloak billowing in the wind. 

 

*

 

There was a strange figure standing in the Central Plaza. 

 

 _Heartless._ She thought.  _Heartless that took shape of men._

She didn't take out her Keyblade yet, and instead she cautiously walked around, watching it attentively for any sudden movements. 

_Could it be the source of the Heartless Outbreak?_

The Heartless opened the palm of its hand, and a dark, wispy orb emerged, flinging it straight towards her.

 

_Don't even think about starting a fight with me._

She summoned her Keyblade just in time and swung it like a baseball bat, returning the orb back and hitting the Heartless right in the face. 

She executed her deadly shotlock, a series of lightning bolts that would paralyze its target for a long time, mercilessly aiming at the mysterious enemy. 

 

And to her surprise, it dodged every one of her projectiles. 

 

_How?!_

 

She felt someone pin her down. Before she knew it, the Heartless was on top of her, engaged in a choke hold. She tried to thrash, to kick the heartless, even tried to stab it with her Keyblade, but even that proved useless. 

 

Is she going to die like this? In her own hometown?!

 

She grit her teeth and bit her tongue, resisting the urge to scream like a coward. Screaming would only hurt more, and it was obvious that this particular Heartless purposely wants to viciously murder her before claiming her heart. 

 

"Fire!" A loud voice resonated, and not long after a ball of flame pushed her enemy right off. 

  
Riku soon emerged, kneeling on one leg beside her, Keyblade still in hand. With a concerned look he helped her up. 

 

"Potion?" He offered, the tiny vial in his hand. 

She remained sitting up, stunned from the recent assault. Her throat felt raw and somehow speaking would send pangs of pain. The mysterious Heartless was stunned as well, lingering on the far side of the Plaza. She started massaging her neck whilst checking for any bruises. 

 

"Later." She stood up and stretched for a little bit. "We need to take this..  _thing_ down."

"It looks like someone's Anti-Form." Riku analyzed as the two watched their enemy stand up slowly. "Don't get too reckless."

"I know."

 

 

"Yume!"

 

The Heartless, to their misfortune, fled when Lea appeared. Had it noticed that it cannot take on another Keyblade wielder, or is it getting exhausted? Perhaps it wanted to escape with the effect of comic relief, seeing Lea calling her name as a distraction.

She and Riku were already panting from fatigue. Her fingers were unsteadily holding onto her blade, and since the strangling she could hardly breathe properly. She contemplated scolding Lea, who was much older than her, for the second time today. But instead she let it slide. Lea was worried about her, and she couldn't be mad at that. 

"I saw a humanoid Heartless running towards here." He started. "Did you run into it?!"

Lea and Riku must've split up early. Where did they go?

"I was strangled." She says with a small voice, not wanting to hurt her throat. "Riku helped me, luckily.”

The two of them were looking at her with worried looks. She ignored it despite how she just realized it now.

"We need to get your throat looked at." Riku suggested. "Let's not stand around here any longer."

“Alright.” She sighs, walking back ahead of the two.

 

*

 

"Are you dizzy?" Aerith Gainsborough asked, sitting in front of Yume. "Have you regained your breathing?"

"A little," She hoarsely said. "And my breathing's fine.”

Aerith stood up, heading for the drawers that held many of her herbal tonics and medicines and the like. To the side, Riku and Lea were discussing with Leon and Yuffie. Cid and Merlin however, are nowhere to be found. 

 

In the corner of her eye, she noticed that Riku was sneaking glances at her. 

 

 _What's his deal?_  

 

If she was right, Lea was feeding the details of today's battles, with Leon and Yuffie discussing about it and Riku listening intently. 

“Cure and potions might help you with your voice,” Aerith clears her throat. “But  you should drink this as an extra.”

"Thanks, Aerith." She takes the tonic and downs it whole. Within a few seconds the pain is gone as if nothing happened.

 

Her bruises are still there, though.

 

She finally stands up and strides over to Leon and the gang, a little annoyed that they left her out of an important discussion.

 

*

 

"A lonesome Heartless standing in the Central Plaza?" Yuffie questioned. 

"That's what I saw when I regrouped." Lea confirmed. 

"Why did the three of you disband?" Leon asked, a hint of annoyance. "And where did the three of you go?"

"I looked around the area." Lea answered briefly. To tell the truth, he was buying himself Sea Salt ice cream, remembering the old days. 

"Same as Lea, investigating another area - Again." Riku shrugs

"Any noticeable physical features?" Yuffie asked. 

 

“It was humanoid.” Yume announced darkly. Attention shifted to her as she made her presence known.

 

Lea clenched his fingers. He remembered what Even said about the old experiments on the heart. The subjects who were strong in form left behind these sort of heartless. And if their hearts were strong as well, they would leave a Nobody in the form of a human, like Xehanort.  
  
He glanced at Yume. Since Yen Sid introduced her to him, another Radiant Garden Resident whom he had oddly never seen before, she had always been somewhat suspicious. 

It still didn't mean that he wouldn't treat her coldly, like she has been with Riku ever since he came. She basically treated him like a Dusk who could fight properly. She treated Lea rather coldly as well.

Yume possessed all the characteristics of a Nobody. But then, he couldn't say that, because for all he knew she could actually be like that and still be human.

Lea zoned out of the conversation, not bothering to pay attention until Yume suggested that they start investigating the castle, both the one Xehanort used to imprison the Princesses of Heart, and the original one that Ansem the Wise researched in. 

“We’ll try to get you information on what it looks like if it actually looked human.” She concludes, ending the discussion.

 

*

 

It had been five days since Yen Sid shipped Riku here, and he found Yume suspicious in every way. Something was off about her demeanor, and he can’t seem to figure out why. It felt like he could explain it, like the keyword was at the tip of his tongue, but what was it?

Sora and Kairi must be having fun without him. If only he could call them or talk to them or _something_

 

"I snuck inside here during its days of glory once." Lea said, looking at the vast hallways of the old castle basement, bringing up the past. "I got kicked out though."

"I heard that back then this world had a large fountain court. How was it?" He tries to make small talk, despite his disinterest.

Lea chuckled. "The locals would spend almost the entire day there, watching the fountains pouring out water. Isa and I practiced parkour there, though. We'd often soar up with the water spraying us up."

Riku looked at him, eyes widening. "Isn't it hard? I mean, you're going to slip alot-"

"Which made better exercise."

 

The mazelike castle hallways that led to the study was quiet. Rather, too quiet. Yume wanted to check out what was left of the dungeon, where the subjects of the infamous experiments conducted by the late Ansem the Wise and his apprentices were held captive after they had turned into Heartless, suspecting that the left over Heartlesses would be the source. 

Yume looked back to see the guys chatting about the old days. 

 

_The old days.._

_Strange, I can’t remember a thing about it._

There was a flicker of movement in the corner of the hall.  


"Guys, pick up the pace." She called, speeding up. "We're almost there."  
  
She ultimately took off running, ignoring Lea's calls for her. She was right on its tail, and one mistake could cost her loosing whatever that thing is. 

It stopped upon reaching Ansem's study, barren ever since Leon picked it clean, providing enough space to fight in. Yume summoned her Keyblade, prepared to counter it the moment it decided to strike. 

Disgustingly enough, the thing seemed to smirk at her, taunting her like a fool. It crept slowly along the walls of the old ransacked and disorganized study, and so did she, making sure to keep her distance.

_Are you going to do anything?_

 

"I can wait." She muttered to herself. 

 

*

 

"Where is she going, taking off like that all of the sudden?!" Lea asked, annoyed as he picked up the pace. 

"Maybe she saw something." Riku suggested, keeping up with him easily. 

"She could've told us then!"

Riku could tell that Lea was worried. She wasn't like Sora, who would talk to Donald and Goofy before doing anything rash. If anything, her lone wolf – like actions were similar to Riku’s.

"You can complain later." Riku said, gaining speed and summoning his Keyblade. "I think I hear a battle."

And Riku was right. Fast as the breeze, the two approached the sounds of Keyblades clanging against each other.

Riku was well versed in Yume's fighting style. Alone, she avoids magic, maintaining her distance and fighting conservatively and defensively, using ranged attacks and only turning to melee when her opponent is moving towards her. She rarely resorts to magic, especially healing abilities.

_The fight that was going on was completely different._

Yume was going all out with this one, relentlessly launching Keyblade combos at it while dodging constantly to avoid her opponent’s vicious slashes. Riku quickly shot a firely ball at the duel in a lazy attempt to separate the two, causing the Heartless to become alit in flames.

"It seems to be weak to fire." Lea states, excited. "Let's burn it!"

Yume doesn't take her eyes off the enemy, taking a breather. "Took you guys long enough." 

“Need some help?” Lea teases.

“Shut up.” She snaps back, panting. 

 

*

 

 _How is fire so effective against that Heartless?  
_  
As far as her expertise in defeating them, Heartless are either neutral to every elemental type or equally vulnerable to elemental magic unless specified. Is this one of those exceptions? That it would be resistant to the only magic  _she_ has mastered?  
  
The Heartless is still alit as Lea continues to send more flames. Riku starts to attack its weakened state, seeing an opportunity. Yume hangs around in the back, taking deep breaths.

Riku sends a rain of blizzard ice at it, just as Yume charged from the rear end, taking the opportunity to attack up close as ice stopped him, but not close to freezing him. 

However, in the middle of her melee combo, it suddenly held onto her Keyblade, burning it with darkness that somehow, managed to get to her too. 

 _Pull back!_ She willed herself.

She released her grip on her keyblade, dodging away as it disappeared in thin air and materializing back in her hands as her throwing knives. Something told her that it was doing something when the heartless was somehow able to stop her flurry of attacks, like it was nothing. 

 

_Nothing._

 

Not long after, the Heartless summoned a dark blade, sharp and ominous; and as if to test it’s might, it teleported right behind Riku, piercing the thing through his stomach. 

 

*

  _Lea_ watched in horror as Riku, stunned, stood there as the dark weapon remained pierced in. The Heartless took it back out, dealing more damage as Riku fell to his knees, coughing out blood.

Lea rushed to his side, trying to bring him back up to health. One glance at Yume told him that he shouldn’t try to help her.

Sparks danced around Yume, her grip on her Keyblade strong _._ _She_ rushed at the heartless once more without any hint of mercy, her killing intent ever so visible.

Lea saw sparks dancing as she kicked and slashed at the Heartless, who deflected every strike with tenacity.

Then it all stopped.

When Lea turned away from Riku as he recuperated to see Yume sliding against the floor, colliding into the wall. Moments after his body felt heavy, and a shared glance with Riku told him that something was wrong.

"He’s going to use gravity!" Riku screamed, trying to get up. He was having trouble in doing so, and was very desperate to get up and  _move_ to her aid. 

Had Riku’s warning reached her ears? 

 

*

 

 _When did things get downhill so fast?!_  
  
Lea is on the floor, and so is Riku, and from the looks of it they are unable to get up. She glanced at her opponent once more, still trying to move something, like her fingers. 

“He’s going to use gravity!” She heard Riku warn. Strange, she didn’t feel being pulled down, but rather paralyzed.

Why did it cast stop on her and not the others? If it was really ruthless, it could've cast gravity on all of them and escaped. 

In the corner of her eye, she saw the Heartless approaching her like a predator stalking its prey. 

She was still able to feel her fingers, thankfully, and it took all of her willpower to try to get it to move, even for just a little bit. 

The Heartless was just a few steps away now, and quickly, she tried to do the one thing she rarely did in battle.

She had barely finished casting esuna when the Heartless drove a swift punch into her gut.

 

Things went black afterwards.

 

*

 

 _I’ve been cured. The spell stopped working._  
  
Riku got up, the pierce wound dissipating just as Yume was flung to the ground. He flung his keyblade at the threatening heartless, wanting to beat it up in more ways than one. 

_The battle ends here._

  
Noticing that someone has attacked him in the back, it retaliated, to which Riku promptly dodged out of the way. He picked Yume up, long knocked out and looked at Lea, who just got back on his feet.

 

Lea stopped him before he could strike again.

"We need to withdraw, Riku!"

 

*

_She was heavily injured. A thick, fresh scar ran through her chest, darkness oozing out of her body. She felt like she was about to fade away. All the things she hadn't done, all the people she cared for, they would fade away too, won't they?_

_She laid there in the corner, watching the people who lived alongside her fall to those dark beings one by one._

_She saw a young man run for her direction, screaming her name. Who is he, and why is he so familiar?_

_"Sister!" He cried. "Are you alright?"_

_Up close, she could see that he was beaten up himself, as if he narrowly escaped the aftermath._

_She must've been close to this man, it seems. The worried lines along his face made it clear._

_"I'm dying.." She choked out. "I.."_

_"You're not going to die, not on my watch!"_

_"Brother, I'm scared.." She cried. "I can't make it.."_

_"You will!" He said as he lifted her with ease. "Come on!"_

_Running through the streets, the two narrowly avoided heartless that charged at them from every angle. It seemed like they were the last ones alive here._

_"We're almost there!" He said, a poor attempt in encouragement._

_But as if he had jinxed it, she noticed a heartless charged at him, clawing his back. He tripped, dropping her as well._

_The last thing she saw was his body being devoured by the heartless, his screams in the air as she fell with an abrupt thud._

 

*

 

The Heartless was still chasing after them. Lea continued to shoot fire balls relentlessly, hopefully giving Riku the advantage of distance despite the fact that Lea may or may not be risking his own life. 

Yume's stiffened, as if she was experiencing a nightmare. Her breathing had considerably become more uneven, and he saw that her fingers had curled up into a fist. 

He didn’t know whether he was running in circles or if he’s almost out of the castle.

 

But he knew that he reached a dead end.

 

*

_Her head was throbbing when she finally hit the ground. She watched as the monsters tore apart her brother's body as they clawed at his clothes, ripping it into shreds._

This is it. _She thought._ _My brother and I are going to die right here._

_She turned to her brother again, who had given up trying to defend himself. He was barely able to move, but the look on his eyes told her one thing, and that seemed to be clear enough._

Run. Save yourself. I’m done for.

_The large gash that stretched across her chest seemed to become worse, its pain becoming more prominent. Getting up was already such a challenge, and she had already given up the fight nevertheless._

_Please, go._ _He seemed to beg, to urge further._

_"I'm not leaving you." She barely choked._

_With the last ounce of willpower that she has left, the girl painstakingly got up and took out her large throwing knives from her jeans pocket and slowly strode towards her dear brother with tears in her eyes._

_Exactly like how she had taught herself, she used the knives to hack and slash at each dark body, keeping them away from her brother. It was a long unending battle, and more kept on coming like a steady stream of water._

_She mercilessly took them all down, and after what felt like hours of throwing and slashing under the dark atmosphere, she paused to look at her brother, heavily injured and barely able to speak._

_She kneeled before him in silence, setting her knives on the floor. It didn't take long for her to know that the person she spent her entire childhood with was dead and gone._

_She watched as her brother stifled a small, sad smile. "I'm sorry."_

_"Why are you sorry?" She held back the tears. "I was the one who failed to help you."_

_He shook his head. "I'll see you soon, sister."_  
  


*

 

_We’re doomed._

  
  
He could still hear fireballs hurled ahead of him. If he went back where he came, the heartless would catch up, and he’d have to fight him again.

Riku set the girl down, and summoned his keyblade just as Lea appeared at the halls. Lea managed to look at him once and immediately summoned a wall of flame to block off the dead end for who knows how long.

The wall disappeared, and miraculously, so did the heartless.

 

“You okay?” Lea asked from the end of the hall.

 

Riku slumped against the wall. “I thought I was going to die.”

“Same here, Riku.”

 

*

 

_Despair. Anger. Rage. Sadness._

_The wave of emotions had washed over her, but her facial expressions were unnervingly blank. Tense._

_I'll obliterate you for killing him._

_She could sense the beasts making a move for her. She retrieved her knives, turning around just in time to slash it in half._

_I'll kill you. All of you._

_More Heartless kept on coming, running towards them and getting ready to pounce, but she won't let them get any closer. She will defend her brother's body until the end, and she will not give then the satisfaction of turning him into one of_ _them._

_A small swarm approached, each and every one of them just as large as her, but certainly much weaker than her. She charged for them, diving her knives into all of them with swift grace. She expected her knives to be coated in black ooze, like the color of darkness itself, but instead she saw a strange blade that resembled a key._

 

_What is this?_

 

_She gazed back at her brother's body. She had to get her brother somewhere safe, and fast. Striding towards him, she managed to get him over her shoulders, heavy as he may be._

_She slowly half dragged him across the street, checking for open doors. He may be gone, but she will not abandon his body to be devoured._

_He deserves a proper burial._

_She opened one of the doors into the abandoned homes, dark and left in shambles. Carefully, she laid him on the ground before inspecting the new weapon._

_Keyblade_ _._ _It seemed to whisper._ _Wielder of the Keyblade._

_She didn't even manage to get ahold of her current location - What was in the room, what could she improvise with - nor how the thing - The keyblade - looked like specifically or how it works or –_

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

_"This is it." She spoke to herself._

*

 

Her cheeks were damp when she woke up. 

 

_That was so bizzare.._

"You're awake."

 

She met Riku's gaze. "How long was I unconscious?" 

"Long enough." He states plainly. “We barely managed to lose him.”

She takes a deep breath, not realizing that Riku is intently staring at her. 

 

"Is there something on my face, Riku?"

 

"I was wondering why you were crying in your sleep." He sighs. "Did you see something unsettling while you were asleep?" 

She drew her lips into a thin line. In this world, she couldn't confide in anyone if she had any problems and had to discuss someone about it. She never really found the need to do so anyway, but regardless now she was contemplating whether she should tell him or not.

"Yume?" Riku asked again. "Is something wrong?" 

"I," She starts. "I saw something I didn’t want to see. That’s all."

"Excuse me?”

“I just dreamed up something in the past that I must’ve forgotten.” She blinks out her tears as if nothing had happened.

_I saw myself getting killed by the Heartless._

“Must have?” Lea looks at her strangely. “Yume, did you really forget your past? What happened?”

She paused, hesitating. “No. I didn’t even know what happened before I met you. I wouldn’t be here if I saw myself getting killed long ago.”

For a second there, Lea’s eyes widened. Normally people would hide their nightmares, but Yume just blurted it all out so nonchalantly it was hard to take her revelations seriously.

Was she really dreaming about her memories? Was she revived after being slain?

 

_It doesn’t make any sense._

 

Yume cuts the silence. “Come on. We can’t delay the mission.”

 

She stands up and goes ahead without waiting for the two of them.

 

“Lea.” Riku says slowly, just as surprised as she is. “Do you think-“

Lea cuts him off straightaway. “I don’t want to consider that option.”

 

_There is no way Yume could be a Nobody._

 

*

 

If Lea recalled correctly, Yume was introduced to him two months after he witnessed Riku saving the comatose Sora. But locals had told him that she had been around longer than that. In fact, if he pieced it together correctly, she had been in Radiant Garden for a month.  

 

 _It’s very strange._

 

He has his suspicions about Yume, certainly. But working with this woman for three months so far has gotten him rather close with her, and a sibling-ish attachment had grown between the two. She would always ignore him, but when things went wrong, she turned to him for help and support and if anything, she looked out for him as well. 

But there was something off about her. This ignorance of hers constantly reminded her of the time when  _he_ was a Nobody. 

 _And is that a coincidence?_

 

*

_"_ Your suspicions would be true if there was that one small proof that says it all, Lea." Even explained once. "Have you asked her what was it like when she arrived here, or what was her earliest memory? Had she died once or anything?"

Lea looked at him in disbelief. "How am I going to ask her any of those questions? They're too personal, Even!"

"Be careful, though." He continued, ignoring Lea's protest. "If you're not well informed yet, Xehanort is going to return, and since they're one slot short, _she_ may get whisked away."

"Liar." Lea said in disbelief. 

"If you don't believe me," Even snorted. "Her involvement with Riku will ignite a few of the new Organization XIII’s curiosity,  _especially_ that of your so called  _best friend."_

 _Isa._ Lea thought. But even if things return to normal, he doubts he and Isa will be back to being best friends. 

"But, Lea.." Even continued onwards. "If it turns out that  _she_ is a Nobody, she may have some link to this outbreak."

 

"After all, When a Nobody is awake, his heartless should be nearby as well."

 

*

 

 _Yume is a Nobody._ He contemplated to himself.  _In that case..._

 

_Her heartless should be somewhere._

 

"I still can't believe it." Riku said quietly.

Lea held his hand up. "Don't finish that line."

Riku sighs. It seems that Lea is in denial; ironic considering that he has been suspicious about Yume regarding this topic for a long time.

"Either way," Lea shrugs it off. "Yume is powerful. That kind of Nobody would have a one-of-a-kind Heartless, not some lowly Shadow."

"Which kind of Heartless?" Riku gulped, wondering if it would be a monster, a special type;

 

Or of human form. 

 

"I can't tell." Lea shakes his head.

"Then what about that Heartless we encountered? How come it treated her differently?" Riku asked. 

"It's all very vauge." Lea sighs. "We don't have enough information. We don't know her past, whether we can link her to that Heartless, or whether we should do anything about it."

"But her Heartless would be out there, right?" He theorized. "Unless it's been slain by the Keyblade already, it should be somewhere, right?"

Lea clenched his fists. "Whatever you're implying by saying that, Riku-"

"I'm not saying that we should.." Riku couldn't finish the sentence properly. 

 

"But if the situation calls for it, Riku;" Lea's voice intensifies. "Will you do it?"

 

Riku refused to meet his eyes. "I won't."

 

"I won't eliminate her, even if it's the last thing I have to do in order to save this world."


	2. Chapter 2

Once again, it took time for the other two to catch up to her. This was annoying, but she couldn't blame them. They must've taken the time to heal themselves after evading that heartless with an unconscious person. 

 

_Damn it._

 

She couldn't forget that dream. Did it really happen? Why did she have to see it now, and if so, why didn't she have any recollection of them?

She took in a deep breath. Now isn't the time to think about this. She has to focus on the mission first above everything else. 

 

_INPUT PASSCODE_

 

" _The password to the computer are the names of the three heroes who defeated the hostile program in the system."_ Leon had explained.

Yume typed in the passcode.

_ACCESS GRANTED_

 

By the time the screen loaded and she was able to check the data, the guys had arrived.

"What are we going to do now, Chief?" Lea asked jokingly. 

"Find some way to get in the dungeons, obviously." Yume scoffed. She didn't have time for his jokes. 

She looked for a search bar and typed in several keywords, all involving the basement or the dungeons. Riku was checking his stock of items while Lea watched her progress. Unsurprisingly, the search came up with no finds whatsoever. 

 

Yume groaned. Lea chucked to himself. 

 

"Move aside." Lea stated. "You don't know how to get to the basement, obviously."  
She did as Lea asked, scowling. Lea typed in some codes, which prompted a user input and another passcode. 

 

_USER: VIII  
PASSCODE: LEA_

 

"Your passcode is your own name?" Yume raises an eyebrow. "Weak."

"You didn't know how it was like back then, Yume." Lea rolls his eyes. "It's not in your place to pry."

"Alright." Lea clears his throat. "Let's head down. The stairs must've opened by now, so we better get going. Got it memorised?"

Yume rolls her eyes. "Now isn't the time to be saying that, you idiot."

 

*

 

The path to the basement was long. It was a spiral path, taking several minutes to reach the bottom with walking pace. Even if they knew it was a long way down, they still walked anyway. It's not a surprise, knowing that the three of them haven't exactly recovered yet. 

 

"The dungeons to the men-turned-Heartless should he ahead." Lea states. "Yume, are you sure you know what you're doing?" 

"I just want to check if the heartless in the dungeons are still in there." She explains. "They were the first of its kind, right?"

"The first ones to be introduced into the realm of light, to be exact." Lea corrects. 

"Then if those were the first, it wouldn't be hard to tell that they would be one of the most powerful ones. If they were released recently, a large wave would spew out of the dungeon, after so many Heartlesses reproducing and all." She continues.

"Then what are you trying to prove?" Riku steps in. 

"I'm thinking that this may be the source of the outbreak." She theorises. "A leakage in the old castle that spewed out a decade's worth of heartless. Maybe even longer than that."

"And what about the Heartless we encountered earlier?" Riku asks. "Have you considered it lurking around here?"

"All the more reason to check it out. For all we know, that heartless could be from this dungeon." She concludes.   
  
They finally reached the bottom of the spiral pathway. Continuing onwards, with Lea in the front and Yume in the rear, the three made their way towards the dungeon. It wasn't hard to know that the basement was dominated by the dungeon, judging by the barred windows. 

Yume was looking a little tense. She had drew out her Keyblade and was constantly checking her surroundings. 

The doors to the dungeons should be visible by now, and Lea had turned around to have a talk with Riku time to time, walking backwards in the process. Yume still looked tense and alert, in no mood to join in. 

 

" _Behind you!"_

 

All of the sudden, a strong gust of air blew past their shoulders. Riku turned to see Yume, her Keyblade pointed towards the direction they were heading. 

Lea was in shock. A heartless had escaped the dungeon? He immediately spun to face the lot that was outside and summoned his chakrams. As a beginner on the Keyblade, he still relied on his default weapon, although that can't be helped. 

"I warned you to be on your guard several times." She protests. "And this what happens?"

"It can't be helped.” Riku summons his keyblade. “Are you going to eliminate the whole lot of heartless?"  
  
"Ten years' worth of them."

 

*

 

_"Gather!"_

 

Lea fought his way to the dungeon door, not bothered to finish all of the heartless that were around him - that would be something Riku and Yume would do. 

He had to check up on the doors that sealed the dungeon. Were they still in operation? Had someone broke in?

He didn't have to look back to know that Yume had cast the spell, drawing in all of the Heartlesses in the hallway. While that spell was in effect, Riku would start hacking and slashing at the suspended enemies and Yume would start sending lightning down the mass of heartless. It was a risky move, one that would cost Yume her energy to cast magic. If she expended all of it now, she won't be able to cast any spells when they finally reached the heat of battle. 

The door was split into pieces, with what used to be said door scattered by the opening in the wall. 

 

_Who did this?_

 

Lea took several steps into the dungeons, dark as it was, and found it completely empty.

_If it's empty, then where are the Heartlesses coming from?!_

 

*

 

Yume came to realise that the Heartless were coming from the other way, seemingly sneaking past them to make it appear like they came from the dungeons. 

 

_I was hoping for that battle, though._

"Riku." She said quietly as the spells she cast died down. "Do you see that?"

"Yeah." He agrees. "Something else is spawning out heartless."

Yume turned around, seeing Lea running up to them. Seems like he knew something was up, too. 

"Let's follow the trail of Heartlesses." Riku urged. "Maybe there's something we missed." 

The three slowly backtracked, slaying heartless after heartless as they went through. The hallways got darker and darker as they went, and as a result harder to spot the Heartlesses. The small shadows were nothing but annoying, but they were the only ones who could seep through the floor, sneaking in by going under the door.

 

The trail of Heartless led to a door that blended in with the hallway perfectly. Riku busted it open, revealing an eerie laboratory.

 

"Do you recognize this room?" He asks Lea, who shakes his head. 

Yume takes a tentative step forward, creeped out and disgusted. "What  _is_ this thing?"

 

A chill runs down her spine when she sees how familiar it looks.

 

Several large golden cylinders - large enough to hold a person - with a window shaped like the heartless insignia were arranged in a circular fashion, tilted upwards and connected to a large glass sphere by pipes. All of the cylinders were connected and held in place by pipes and metal panels arranged like some sick altar, and there was a raised platform with another panel with buttons and the like. On its sides were pedestals with blue thorns sticking out at the top and sides. To add, large pipes from this odd contraption spread out towards the walls and ceiling of the room.

It took her another moment to realise that something is in the cylinders, and that something is filling the huge sphere with dark ooze, sending it in through the pipes. Swallowing air, she walked towards the cylinders. 

"You sure you know what you're doing, Yume?" Riku asked.

She ignored him and peered closer. The glass was opaque, and all she could see was a dark thing, squirming about. 

 

"Something is inside this thing." She muttered. "And I don't like it."

 

"Well I don't like the looks of this too, kid!" Lea commented. 

 

Suddenly, the glass sphere cracked, and the  _thing_ inside the cylinders pulsated even more vigorously. What is going on?!

 

She whipped her head to her comrades and saw that Riku was standing on the raised platform, a hand on the panel. 

"What did you do, Riku?!" She exclaimed. 

"Nothing!" He shouted back and whipped out his Keyblade, moving back. “I swear!”

The sphere filled up with even more black ooze of a darker shade, and soon she realised that the cylinders are empty. Whatever is inside those cylinders are moving into the sphere now, threatening to break out. 

"That's not black ooze." Yume realised. 

"Guys!" Lea exclaimed, taking out his chakrams as well. "It's a Heartless manufacturing plant!"

 

_It's darkness. Pure darkness._

 

She looked at the glass sphere. The crack hasn’t progressed further, but the darkness inside is still trying to break loose.

“What are supposed to do now, guys?” Riku asks darkly, tense and alert. “There’s no way we can stop it once that sphere thing breaks apart.”

 

_How do you seal darkness??_

 

Another crack emerges. Time is running out.

 

“We have to seal it with magic.” Lea reverts to his Keyblade and aims at the sphere.

“And you’re going to use fire?!” Yume protests. “It’s not going to work, Lea. Darkness is like a black hole!”

He shoots a dark beam of fire. “Dark magic.” He adds. “You misunderstand.”

Riku gapes. “When have you learned to use dark magic?!”

Lea doesn’t say anything.

Yume looks at Riku. She knows that he’s well acquainted with the darkness, but is he also able to wield dark magic? And when has Lea able to do such a thing?

She watches in horror while Riku takes in a deep breath and hesitantly shoots another beam of dark energy, with no other form of elemental magic accompanying it. He looks calm compared to Lea’s struggling form, as if this is something he has done a few times. The beam is thick and steady, like Riku’s grip on the keyblade.

 

Using dark magic takes a serious toll on the person casting it. It uses the darkness in your heart, and the user has a risk of said darkness taking over as it is amplified to be able to use dark magic in the first place. Why it is amplified instead of diminishing is a large mystery. Her mentor, Yen Sid himself has told her never to resort to using magic unless necessary, but advises that she work on it a few times. But thing is, in her practice sessions with Yen Sid, she has never been able to use dark magic, not even a tiny wisp of it.

 

“Yume!” Lea shouts, pained. “What are you standing there for? We need all the magic we can get!”

The beam is progressing considerately, despite the fact that they’re still racing against time. The beam has sealed half of the cracks now, but it seems like the cracks are multiplying.

She looks around nervously, at Riku who’s still working hard, sweat forming on his skin, and then turns to the doorway that seems to becoming pitch black, the transition flickering between a deep gray.

 

_Wait. It’s not flickering._

 

She looks back at the machine, and for some reason, the thing in the cylinder is screaming at her, resembling humans trapped in the claustrophobic chamber trying to get out and hopelessly failing.

 

She imagines people wearing lab coats opening the cylinders and roughly shoving in innocent civilians.

 

A rumble shook the room. Yume took out her daggers and threw them towards the door and unleashed a gust of wind, forming a thick wall of air. She knew what made that rumbling, and she knew that she wasn’t in the right place to fight that thing one on one, with a predicament like this.

“What the-“ Riku looked back, surprised to see what Yume was doing. “What are you doing?!”

“Defense.” She muttered, coming up with another plan at the spur of the moment. She’s not going to let them know that she can’t use dark magic.

There was a bang on the wall of air, causing Yume to wince a little. She had never cast magic to a degree this huge, and she was afraid that her energy might drain out before the boys were done. And even so, it is already guaranteed that her energy will drain out before she leaves the castle, putting her in a serious spot. She had already passed out once here, nonetheless.

More tiny cracks were forming, and the boys had a quarter left. Would cracks still come out even if the whole initial cracks were sealed?

She could make out the shadow of the heartless now, the same one that had overpowered all three of them earlier today. There was a mystery behind this heartless, and she could tell it like it was at the tip of her tongue.

Another bang impacted on the wall, and this time she had to hold out her hands to maintain the wall, focusing her energy on it.

 

_Wince._

 

“You okay back there?” Lea asks, although it feels like more along the lines of shouting.

 

“Just hurry up!"

Yume could see that more Heartlesses approaching.

 

“We’re almost done!” Riku announced after what felt like an eternity. “You can drop the wall now!” 

 

Relieved, Yume nodded and motioned her hands so that the wall moved back a little, and proceeded to swallow up everything beating against the wall, encasing the heartlesses – humanoid one included – in a sphere of air.

 

“Finally!” Lea exclaimed. “Let’s go!”


	3. Chapter 3

They ran like there was no tomorrow.   
  
The three of them were completely drained of energy and stamina, sweating profusely as their hands shook with temporary anxiety and their bodies coursing with adrenaline. Yume didn't know how much time she bought while trapping the Heartlesses in the air sphere, or whether the sealed sphere will even hold. Many possibilities raked through her mind, but she knew that there was a chance that the heartless will attack the sphere, unleashing a great wave of darkness that will corrupt the world little by little, spawning even more heartless of the stronger variety. 

Was it their fault? Was it something that would eventually happen? Was it wrong for them to run in fear for their lives instead of trying to defeat this wave of heartless, risking their lives?

She looked at Lea and Riku, who look even worse than her, as if they were drained of their life energy, drained and all. She couldn't imagine continuing this mission if they were to fall into darkness now, dying as a result. 

They were racing up the spiral staircase now, but she knew that this was barely halfway out of the place. Lea was accelerating now, with Riku catching up. 

_Reckless boys._ She judges. _You’ll risk your stamina running faster._

She was the last to reach the computer room, just when the doors closed with a relieving boom. It seemed like it was all over, considering how quiet everything became, but that was far from the truth. 

Their goal was to  _eliminate_ the source. They only found it and managed to unleash it, and it might've made things worse. 

Riku was tossing an elixir at Lea, who took it in gratefully. He took out another from his inventory as well and was about to drink it before he noticed Yume, looking over the closed entryway to the basement. 

"Here." He offered, walking over to Yume. "You could use it."

Yume looked at the bottle of elixir for a moment and took in Riku's expression. He smiled a little when Yume met his eyes, although it was tired and strained. 

"You need it more than I do." She shook her head. "I can manage without magic."

Riku frowns a little and hesitantly downs the elixir. She sends a small smile, lightly jabbing him on the shoulder like it's not a huge deal. 

There other things to worry about. What are they going to do next? Clearly they need to go back into the basement to do some damage control, as well as wiping out more Heartlesses while they're at it. 

And then there's that humanoid heartless to worry about. 

She looked over to the boys, who are still recovering. The Elixir might've done wonders, but they could use a break, despite the situation they're in. Unlike them, she doesn't rest until the sun sets, until she feels like she's done enough. 

She could tell that HQ won't be happy hearing about the things they've done. Wouldn't it be better to go back inside, now that they've healed and rested a little?

 

"So what are we going to do now?" Riku asks. "Should we head back in there?"

Lea speaks up right before Yume was about to say anything. "I’m going to pay a visit to my old comrades. You two should take a break after what happened today."

Yume opens her mouth to protest, but Lea cuts in. "I'm serious. Go back to HQ, got it memorised?"

 

"Fine."

 

*

 

"Was there a lab under the castle?"

 

Lea blurted out the question just as Even reached the bottom of the stairs, joining Ienzo as he fixed himself a cup of coffee. Just as he finished asking, both of them tensed up, like this was something that shouldn't be discussed. 

"Why would you ask that?" Even protested. 

"Just answer me." Lea ignores Even's question. Even glanced at Ienzo, who merely shook his head. 

"It's not a lab. It's a Heartless production plant, so to speak." Ienzo begins. "It uses pure darkness taken from heartless to form more heartless."

"And I'm guessing you guys built it?" Lea skeptically questions. "Is it still in use the last time you guys checked?" 

 

Even and Ienzo tensed up, exchanging looks. 

 

"Gosh, you forgot about it?!" Lea's voice raises. "How is that possible?"

"We didn't." Even doesn't flinch. "We made sure it was deactivated before we left the castle where we all woke up."

"Deactivated, but not destroyed to the point that you can't use it anymore." Lea mutters. 

Ienzo frowns. "We left the thing as it was, the darkness still inside and all. It just stopped making heartless."

"And the dungeons? What about the heartless in them?"

Even shakes his head. "Why don't you see how things are over in the basement yourself? There's a few leftover black coats somewhere in the back."

 

_I already did, and it was awful_ _._

 

"Before I go," Lea continues. "What happens if the machine breaks and the darkness in it breaks out?"

Even scoffs. "Isn't it easy to tell? The world will be somewhat polluted by darkness itself. Stronger heartless, more corruption, and if things get worse the world itself will fall back into darkness once more.”

 

*

 

With a diluted glass of ether in hand, she slowly sips it and watches the castle from her perch atop a roof. Riku is still inside Merlin’s house, updating the restoration committee about everything that happened.

_We might have found a candidate for the source, but we made things worse._

 

A great blast echoed in the distance. A dark wave burst from what seems to be the castle.

 

_Darkness._

She downed her ether with one large gulp, replenishing her energy and went back to Merlin's house. Leaping from spot to spot, she finally lands on the stone paved roads and rushed to the front doors. The sky had gone formidably darker and she whipped her head back and forth, seeing the people go outside and wonder what's going on. 

Then in the corner of her eye, a black pool formed, with others emerging as well. She summoned her throwing knives and threw them at the Neoshadows just as their heads show up, taking them out before any of them could hurt the civilians. People were panicking at this point, running around evading the heartless. 

Merlin's house is just around the corner. She picked up the pace, trying to shoot down each Neoshadow with her throwing knives that return back to her hand after each kill. 

The darkness that came out from the castle must've been unbelievably thick to spawn Neoshadows to this degree. 

 

She burst through the door, barging in and slamming it shut immediately. 

 

"You're back. What took you so long?" Riku asks, concerned. 

"Lots of stuff.” She took in deep breaths. "Things have gone worse, and we need to go back." 

"Back into the castle? It's a death wish!" Riku protests. "We're not strong enough to face that strange heartless yet! Did you forget?" 

"The heartless have already gotten stronger, Riku! Have you forgotten that we Keyblade Masters have to learn to face this kind of problem!" 

Riku remains silent, unsure what to say. Leon walks towards them, Gunblade at the ready. 

"Yume, what exactly happened out there?”

"There was a machine that contained pure darkness in the castle. It-"

"The same one that Lea and Riku sealed up when it suddenly cracked?"   
  
"The seal didn't hold and the darkness inside broke out." She clenches her fists.

"It broke out!?" Riku gasps. "Didn't Lea say that dark magic could seal darkness?"

“There were heartless outside when we escaped after the sealing. Didn't you remember? It's not hard to think that they would destroy the machine, with that humanoid heartless with them as well. Wasn't it wrong to say that they were after the darkness that would make them stronger?" 

 

Riku and Yume stared at each other in annoyance, a staring contest to see who would break out in anger. 

 

"Alright." Leon breaks them up. "I'm assuming that the heartless are back at it again and causing panic.

Yume nods.

 

In a bored tone, Leon turns to the crew in HQ. "Get your weapons ready. We have a world to save."

 

*

 

Lea smooths out the wrinkles on the black coat he now wears. It's been a long time since he has worn this now that he exchanged it with regular clothes similar to the ones he once wore when he was human. 

He checked the inner pockets of the coat, completely filled with the two other coats he would hand to Riku and Yume. He never likes wearing it, despite this being his only attire as a Nobody. The only upside is that it provides resistance against darkness, reducing the damage they inflict. 

It's so weird to run around wearing this. 

Shutting the door behind him, he noticed the darkened sky and the chaos of Neoshadows attacking people. Wordlessly despite his shock, he summons his chakrams, he flung them across the plain, slicing through each one of the Heartlesses in his sight.   


Recklessly Lea then replaces his chakrams with his Keyblade, shooting a large fireball into the air like a flare, drawing out all of the Heartlesses that were focused on the civilians and even those that have gone indoors. 

Lea grits his teeth. Could he actually face all of this on his own?

Tightening his grip on the handle of his keyblade, he prepared to swing. He heard of a similar story like this, where Sora faced off a thousand heartlesses all at once.   
  
As he cut through each neoshadow, slowly bringing down one at a time. He occassionally looked around, checking to see if any are spawning or whether the others are approaching. Is he really going to face it himself?

 

*

 

A huge fireball soared in the sky just when things are starting. Everyone with a weapon have split up, covering as much ground as possible. Yume doubted that strategy, knowing how powerful Neoshadows are. Even she and Riku are having a hard time with the crowd of Heartless that have increased with the fireball drawing them out of whatever nook and cranny they were from. 

"Was that Lea?" Riku pointed out, flinging his Keyblade in a strike raid, followed by a spiral sweep on the ground. 

Yume ended her combo, knocking back a few Neoshadows and striking down others. "No one else is able to go and launch a fireball that huge."

"This isn't fair." Riku declared. "We need to help him. I doubt he's able to push through when he's not much of a pro with that Keyblade." 

Yume pouts. "Don't underestimate Lea. He's actually much more powerful than you think." 

"Is it wrong to check on him? We're the only ones fighting as a duo, compared to everyone else." Riku urged. "Who knows, there's another place to cover."

Yume grits her teeth, hesitant. Taking a deep breath, she took out a vial filled to the brim with one of the concoctions she created, handing it out to him.

“Take it.” She shoves it in his hand. “Quickly.”

“What’s this?” He stows it in his pocket, a little confused.

“It’s my own version of the Elixir. Smaller in size than the usual, but the effects are far greater than the ones you have.”

He looks surprised, casting another lightning spell. “Why would you give this to me for?”

Their backs were facing each other, fighting the heartless as they speak. “I just felt like it. You need it more than I do.”

He then points his Keyblade right at the crowd and shoots a beam of ice, temporarily freezing the Neoshadows in its path.  
  
“It won’t last long knowing these guys.” He explains, taking the vial. “Now go!”

 

*

 

She sprints ahead, cutting down the Neoshadows in its path. Everywhere she looks, the doors are shut, the windows are all covered up and closed. She wonders how the people waiting inside are faring, how they’re taking in all of this. How many times had this world faced these sort of things? How many times had it almost fallen?

_Now isn’t the time to dwell about the past._

Picking up the pace, she ignores her tired forearms and pained legs, and how much the impact of the ground is threatening her feet to fail her, to get her to trip. She mentally recounts the stock of items she brought with her. No one had been able to predict how long this would be, and she had to conserve her stock just in case, despite the many cases where she had wanted to spam magic on all of them.

A warm breeze flew past her, and she could feel that Lea was nearby. Things got warmer the closer she got, and she was nervous to know how much magic he was using. Lea was reckless, and he never bothered to consider how much magic he was using.

His flaming red hair was coming into focus now, like a fire in the dark. The ground itself was dark, and it seemed like Lea was constantly igniting the ground with fire, burning the neoshadows to ashes.

She remembered how she fought when there was a crowd around her. She always used magic spells that had an area of effect, forgetting about the fact that she could do much more with just her blade, where it was easier to dodge.

_And that makes people reckless._

  
Taking a deep breath, she summoned a large tornado, directing it with her Keyblade with her might, hoping that it will buy Lea time for a break, to heal and take a breather.

She rushed over to him, not bothering to give in any effort to maintain the spell and splashed the vialful of elixir at his face.

 

“What was that for?” He protests. “Was it necessary to splash it at me?”

“You’re being reckless. I’m saving you.” She shortly stated.

“You seriously don’t believe the fact that I can handle myself?” He groans. “I’m hurt, sis.”

Yume rolls her eyes. “I don’t have time for this. Get up.”

 

Before Lea could say anything else, she pierces her Keyblade onto the ground beneath her, dropping the tornado and slamming the Neoshadows to the floor.

 

“Alright.” Lea scratches his nose, a smirk on his face. “Let’s take these things down.”

 

The two fought hard, striking the Neoshadows in sync as if it’s a weird dance. While Lea struck from above, Yume swept them off their feet, dealing damage on their fall. Knowing that there’s still more Heartlesses out there, the two know not to use their magic constantly now, knowing to conserve until the real fight.

Many things went through her head, remembering the many questions that weren’t answered. What’s the deal with that intimidating humanoid heartless? What were those weird dreams she saw when she was unconscious back in the castle? What should they signify?

She wasn’t paying attention when the last bit of Neoshadow was about to strike her. It’s only when Lea’s Keyblade came flying within a hairline of her face, striking the heartless down that she had noticed.

 

“You were zoning out back there.” He pointed out. “You alright?”

“There’s so many things we haven’t found the answer too.” She starts off. “And with this going on, will we even find the answer to them?”

“Calm down.” Lea placed his hand on her shoulder. “All truths will rise to the surface eventually.”

 

_I hope so._

 

“There’s no point in loitering around here.” Lea advises in a low tone. “Come on. This place is huge, and there are more Heartlesses to face.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

 

"Here." Lea offers after awkwardly taking out a rolled up black cloth from his own coat's inner pocket. Yume had just noticed his change in attire then. 

"What's this for?" She took the black item and let it roll out, revealing a similar black cloak. 

"I used to wear this back in the day.” Lea explains. "This garment protects you against darkness, so it provides some resistance against the Heartless."

"I see." Yume nods, although the look on her face shows that she's not very impressed. 

"Just put it on." Lea rolls his eyes. "You will thank me later."

The cloak is snugly fit, but the heavy, tight bottoms of the cloak make it hard to run in, and the sleeves are a little too tight on her. How did Lea fight in this when this was what he wore before?

 

"So what now?" Lea asks once Yume made sure she put it on right. 

"Simple. We finish the job I had apparently left Riku to do and then some."

"Cleanup, huh." Lea shortly mutters. 

"We were assigned the residential areas, so I suppose we get to it then."

"And after that?"

 

Yume readies her throwing knives. "We'll see."

 

*

 

Among everyone else, Riku was the last to finish cleaning up the heartless. 

 

There was a reason why Riku had been assigned with Yume for the residential areas. It was huge, and clearly no one could wipe out the heartless alone. Yume was supposed to stick with him, But on his permission, he let her go to find Lea. Chances are, she was doing her job of cleaning up the Neoshadows in the residential areas in her own way. 

He has already emptied the vial Yume gave her, and that's the only item he had used, as he had taken small helpings of the elixir she gave him whenever it was necessary, surviving with low energy, many Keyblade swings, and a not so perfect health condition. 

He hasn't sounded off that he was done with his end of the world. He needed to find Yume and Lea first, curious to know where they were and how they're doing. 

But the world's not completely rid of heartless yet. The plaza and the castle itself were left alone, and whatever heartless that is still here must've been there. 

Riku wonders how it was like the last time this world encountered a heartless outbreak. This wasn't the first time, and he knew it well. 

 

"Where are you?" Riku asks, his voice barely above a whisper. 

 

*

 

The plaza.   
  


"Are we sure we should be here?" Lea asks, hesitant. "There's a lot of them here."

Yume shakes her head. "Just doing recon. It's messy, but I'm trying to find answers even if the timing is damned awful."

Lea was about to say another word, but Yume silences him, placing a finger on her mouth. 

She snuck around the bushes placed around the Plaza, taking care not to be seen by any of the neoshadows. Her focus wasn't on the vermin, but on the person in charge. 

The humanoid Heartless. 

No one had assigned anyone to the Plaza, considering its proximity to the castle and how dangerous it might be when it's teeming with heartless. The Plaza would be tackled on later, they promised, and Yume didn't disagree with that plan. 

 

How do you describe a humanoid heartless several meters away from you? Its form was dark, so it would be hard to distinguish how it had looked. She sneaked to the next bush and decided to get comfortable with her vantage point and eyed the creature. Judging from its form, it was a boy, probably at Lea's height, with messy hair that sticks out all over the place. There was something hanging loose and flopping in the air, something that looked like a scarf. 

That was it. A boy with messy locks with a long scarf. This boy seemed to be in charge of things, and she could picture how he was the cause behind this. How he wrecked apart the dungeon doors to free the heartless and then to the heartless manufacturing plant to unleash the darkness within to make him stronger. 

 

Something felt off. Something was fishy about this heartless, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.   
__  
  


_Darkness was oozing out of her body instead of blood. The gash was painful, and it seemed like knowing that she couldn't bear the pain meant that her death was just down the hall._

_In the distance of her blurred vision, a young man rushed to her with a worried expression. He was feeling just as hopeless as she is about this heartless outbreak. She knew this man. He's her brother, with the iconic messy bedhead and the blue plaid scarf that was too long for his liking. It was a gift from his mom, a parting gift before she passed, so he had decided to keep it anyway._

 

_Why did this happen?_  She constantly asked herself.  _Why did this happen?_  
  


"Yume?" Lea spoke up. "Yume, are you still here?"

_This is impossible_. She kept repeating to herself. _How is this real?_

"Brother?" She whispered to herself. "Is that really you?"

"Hey!" Lea took a step closer and grabbed her shoulders. She's completely out of it.

Her breathing started to quicken. _Is she hyperventilating?_

Lea took a glance at the swarm of heartless. They haven't seemed to notice them yet, but if her mental health got worse here of all places, it'll be just him again, and this time he has to protect her. 

"I don't have time for this." Lea mutters.

He slapped her right across the face, regretting it immediately. 

Yume brought her hand up to her cheek, stunned. "That hurts, Lea."

"Good to have you back." He sarcastically comments. “Let’s go.”

 

*

 

A day had passed after that. Neither one of the two had dared to bring up the Humanoid Heartless – her brother's Heartless, as far as Lea inferred – in conversation. Riku didn't know what happened while Yume was with Lea, and they decided to leave it like that. 

The plaza and roads leading to it are still under Quarantine, although now life had gone back to its usual pace, albeit with more caution. 

Yume distanced herself from the group several times since then, with the excuse to go out patrolling. She went after lunch as well, despite the fact that the restoration committee would always hold meetings after lunch. Riku and Lea had often exchanged glances as a result, wondering what to do.

Riku could tell what was on his mind. He was wondering about whether Yume is truly a Nobody or not. That much is obvious. It's a thing they haven't brought up, a question set aside for more important priorities. 

She just came back from another patrolling session, and right after that, Lea pulls her aside, towards the corner of the house, with Riku following suit.  

 

"We need to talk." He says.

 

She sighs. “What, Lea?”

“I just have a theory to try and prove.” He clears his throat.

 

Riku glanced at Yume's tired expression. Is it the right time to talk about this now? Even if it is one of the many mysteries to be solved, it doesn’t seem right to talk about this now.

 

“How much do you remember of the World’s history?” Lea challenged.  
  


Yume looks up, surprised. “I don’t understand.”  
  


“Aside from this one, two outbreaks have happened in this world.” Lea began, undeterred. “The battle of the thousand Heartlesses outside town, and the day the world fell into darkness.”

“Where are you going with this?” Yume cuts.

“If I’m not wrong,” Lea begins. “You woke up as a Nobody several months ago under your own Somebody’s name, and I’m guessing that only now you had started to see your memories.”

“Your name was listed in the records of citizens of Radiant Garden before it collapsed, and it didn’t show up after another census. And with that, did my theory prove right?”

Yume remains silent.

“Don’t get me wrong, Yume.” Lea sighs. “I’m only interrogating you like this because I care.”

“And to add more to this whole thing, you were an only child. The Heartless we saw in the plaza wasn’t your brother’s, as you thought it was, but _yours.”_

 

“Even memories are not safe from the darkness.” Riku mutters, hiding his confusion and putting up an indifferent expression.

 

Yume stormed out of HQ before Lea could say anything else. 


	4. Chapter 4

Yume kept on walking. Riku followed her still, not bothering to wear the black cloak Lea had offered, despite its benefits. Bad memories came with that cloak, and he chose not to remember it again.

He was too occupied with chasing Yume to think about what the others were doing. Probably helping out the citizens who need food and the like until this Heartless outbreak was over. 

 

What Lea said may as well be just a theory. A theory that seemed to be real and the truth, backed up by Yume's partial memory loss - or false memories - and then some. 

 

What is she intending to do by walking off? Even Sora and Kairi wouldn't have much else to go if they walked out in anger, seeking a hiding spot to calm down their nerves like a child. 

 

Not that Riku was calling Yume a child. 

 

He was getting closer to her now, probably arms' length distance.  

 

The moment he grabbed her shoulder, she turned around and pointed one of her knives at his face. 

 

"Yume.." He quietly said. 

 

She sighs in annoyance and mutters something he can't hear, the knife vanishing into thin air. She doesn't face him. 

 

"Hey, talk to me." He tried to say something. What plan does he have in mind to follow her?

"There is nothing to say."

"You're upset, Yume." Riku urged, although he may as well sound desperate. "I'm sure you would want to scream something at Lea, after what he told you."

Yume didn't reply. Riku just continued. 

"Lea is jumping to a lot of conclusions by saying all of that. Were you actually considering that stretched out theory to be true?"

 

She didn't answer. Now it felt like Riku was scolding her. 

 

"Why are you doing this, Riku?" She finally said after a long silence. "This is frankly none of your business."

"I just felt like I have to do it." He shrugs. "Being called a Nobody is a little harsh."

Yume turns to face him with a weird look on his face, like someone before rolling their eyes.  

But he also sees the halfway dried tear streaks across her face. 

 

"Hey, are you-"

"Don't even say anything, Riku."

 

She wipes the tears away like its nothing and takes in a deep breath. Perhaps all of this would come together if she remembered more and more of her past.

 

“How would you feel if someone told you that everything you know is a lie, Riku?” She cried out. “Who am I, if everything that I am is just a lie in itself?”

 

They stare at each other quietly, with Yume looking more depressed and confused than annoyed, and Riku being clueless on what to do with her. 

 

A few drops of rain fell down on them, starting to wash away the dark residue from the fights with the Heartless. It wasn't heavy yet, so the Residue couldn't be washed away effectively at the time. 

 

“Answer me, Riku.” She demands.

 

Riku looks away and clenches his fists. What would he say? Does she want him to say the facts out loud, like what Lea said? Or does she suspect something from him instead?

 

“If you’re saying that Lea’s only spitting out conclusions, who am I?” She insists.

 

“You’re still a person.” He blurts out. “That’s what I can say.” 

He still doesn’t meet her eyes.

 

“You’re a brilliant person, Yume.” He continues hesitantly. “You’re a determined individual with a strong willed heart. Don’t let the truth tell you otherwise.”

She frowns. “Huh.”

 

And just like that, she walks away, leaving Riku behind.

 

*

 

The paths to the castle beyond the plaza were never touched. The restoration committee didn't see the need to use it anymore, considering how it brought up bad memories; which is also why the gardens adjacent to the castle were never rebuilt. 

The others had gone on ahead without Riku and her, leaving a note to meet up back in the Castle. They had to cross the plaza to get there, potentially having to face that strange Heartless.  


The sound of footsteps echoed in the plaza.   
  


Riku held a hand out to stop her and placed a finger to his mouth.

 

_Quiet._

 

Yume glanced towards the general direction of the sound and wordlessly summoned her Keyblade.

 

_No one had dealt with the heartless in the Plaza yet._

 

“Be prepared to run towards the castle if necessary.” She whispered.

She felt Riku look at her in surprise. “Are you going to do the same?”

 

She didn’t answer.

 

In the blink of an eye, Yume shoved Riku away and held her Keyblade up to block an incoming attack by the humanoid heartless itself.

 

“ _Go!”_ She commanded. “ _Run!”_

 

Riku was still on the ground, being in this position after her powerful shove. “What are you going to do?”

 

“Just go, Riku!” Yume commanded. “It won’t follow you while I’m here!”

 

 

_They’re my responsibility._


	5. Chapter 5

She couldn’t remember how she got here in the first place. She only remembered how it was like to be struck down while worthlessly defending her brother’s dead body and herself at the same time, then everything being just a big blank.

_Those memories were fake, weren’t they?_

 

Yume shoved that thought aside. Nothing came to mind about what happened in that huge blank.

_Lea said that I knew him for a few months already._

 

What happened during those first months then? Why can’t she recall anything from those early days? Why is everything a fuzzy blank?

 

*

 

She blocked another swipe from it. The heartless isn’t using any weapons, but that scarf and messy hair is awfully familiar, so much that it’s giving her a little headache.

Or maybe it’s just her.

She leapt back and fired another gust of wind. Her magic isn’t doing anything to it, and she’s not one for melee attacks, which is the only way it can be brought down.

 

_You fought longer battles before._

 

The gust merely stunned the Heartless, and it gave her enough time to combo him and pin them to the wall. She transformed her Keyblade into her throwing knives and stabbed one of them into what would be its throat.

_You’re not silting someone’s throat. This is a heartless you’re battling._

 

*

 

_“Your scarf is too long.”_

_The boy was around her age, equally fast and mischievous like her. She often saw him on the streets, pickpocketing people back and forth like her._

_“I know. But it’s the only thing that reminds me of my mother.” He smiles a little._

_“What happened?” She asks, curious._

_“She passed away.”_

 

*

 

The heartless pushed her off them.

 

_What did I just see?_

 

She takes in another deep breath and readies her Keyblade. “I don’t know who you are, but you are going down.”

The Heartless seems to understand this and readies their battle stance.

The two go hand in hand against each other in a tense dance of swings and dodges, and somehow it seems like neither is gaining the lead nor losing.

 

_It’s getting tiring, though._

 

The Heartless dives in to swipe at her feet, but she jumps up high just in time to avoid it and counters with a lighting strike at them.

“Who are you?” She asks as she reaches the ground, before swooping in for another combo.

However the tides turn when they gets up faster than she could strike them, bringing her to the ground with her Keyblade pressed against her chest.

She struggled to push them off, trying to concentrate. The dark wisps were touching her, and she felt like puking.

 

_Get off get off get off._

 

She pushed them back with a gust of wind and tried to forget the sensation of being grazed by darkness itself. Wiping her mouth just in case, she prepared for the next strike. 

 

*

 

_They became comrades not long after that. Two homeless orphans working together, pickpocketing the people and doing other odd jobs for extra cash. People thought they were kids who would always take on the odd jobs, leaving none for the others as a result. Little did they know that the rest of the money came from people's pockets._

_Today's loot was bountiful yet again, as the marketplace was always busy on the seventh day of the week, where everyone was given a full day off from work and school and the like, shopping for goods and treats and warm hearty meals._

_She kept her hands in her pockets afterwards, trying to disguise the loot from conspicuously bulging out. After careful counting and sorting what would be pawned off and what could be used to trade and what is actually useful for buying stuff, they decided to buy a bowl of chili to split, with warm, freshly baked bread on the side._

_It was one of the best meals they had all week. They would end up with full stomachs and flushed cheeks, sleeping more soundly then ever for once._

_The sun was about to set, and they were about to head their own ways again, just like yesterday._

_"By the way," she said. "What's your name?"_

*

 

She slides against the ground, scratching the palm of her hands and knees. She raises her Keyblade again to block them, and jumps back, regaining balance and momentum. 

She takes a breather. It does the same.

 

_Name. I forgot your name. Just who are you?_

 

In the corner of her eye, she noticed dark pools approaching closer and closer. She didn't forget to keep an eye on the heartless in front of her, just as silent as she is. The pools drew in closer and closer and she tightened her grip, taking in a few deep breaths to level her breathing.

The black pools leaped out right towards the center of the plaza. Yume dodged and summoned a wall of wind around her, seeing more pools darting past her.

 

_Heartless Residue._

 

In horror, she stood by and watched the pools merge with the heartless before her, making it even more powerful than before. The fight that happened between them was nothing compared to what would happen after this. In fact, the dance between them became irrelevant. It was like facing off a massive titan, even if the heartless had just doubled in size. 

It no longer resembled the familiar face. Instead, it became a monster with a human costume.

 

She downed her custom elixir and prepared to dodge its first attack.

 

*

 

_They were both taken in by the authorities._

_At first, they were awfully puzzled. Had they been caught? Were they going to prison?_

_They became even more confused when they reached the palace gates, seeing other homeless individuals like them. Beggars on the street, orphans, homeless people who have been evicted or kicked out, and so on. People of both genders, all ages, and many body types were there, showing no bias._

_It was announced that the Ruler wanted to provide a home for the homeless in the basement, where they would serve as servants or assistants and the like._

_Celebration rippled across the public, especially in those who were to be taken in. But when she turned to see her companion, he was silent._

_He was suspicious of the plan and told her to remain vigilant, not to anger them nor to disobey them. They were already criminals, and they were standing on thin ice. By the look on his face, somehow he also knew that not everyone here were not always good people. She recognized some of them who shared their loot with the two of them out of pity. Would some people here steal from the castle, then?_

_With this level of distrust, it would be doubtful the castle would really perform this good deed._

_And thus their life in the castle began._

 

*

 

It's grown exceedingly overwhelming. With every attack she had to block, she felt like her Keyblade would split into two, rendered useless. 

But even if the heartless had grown in strength and defense, she knew that the previous duel she had with it had taken out most of its health. For all she knows, she might be a few combos and spells left before they would be finally be taken down, finishing this once and for all. 

She wondered what Riku was doing in the castle. More than likely he and Lea and perhaps the rest of the restoration committee were cleaning up the remaining Heartlesses in the basement and checking out the machine. She wondered if he was facing a much easier job than hers, since one would rather fight a tyrannous titan instead of a swarm, as the former would let you take as long as you wanted while the latter was just annoying to go through. 

It’s not much of a wonder why a thousand heartless is much more difficult to face compared to an ice titan. 

The heartless had a new attack ready for her. The two were equal in fighting styles and combat techniques, like two fencing athletes. But the surprise the heartless had in store caught her off guard.

 

It was preparing a shotlock. 

 

While she was firing beams of lightning little by little, it was charging the shotlock, preparing to fire many rays of darkness towards her. She made the mistake of blocking and as a result, several of the rays cut clean through her skin, leaving a deep wound even if she had been grazed. 

And it burned. 

What's worse, the wound will eat her up if she doesn't finish this and get healed. Her elixirs only heal wounds from elemental based magic and the ordinary attacks. They can't do anything when it comes to dark energy. 

It's like healing when you've been poisoned. It will still stay regardless how many times you've healed yourself. 

She started to dodge, running in circles round and round. She considered what step to do next. With her numerous scars, she has to be even more cautious this time. 

She grit her teeth and charged right at it from behind, striking its nape and driving him to its knees, where she further punished with more and more combos, swiping six, seven times each. 

She can't enhance her combos with any form of magic. It proved ineffective against him, and she had found that out in the last fight. She hadn't known how to use light energy properly yet, for fear that the balance of light and darkness in her body would go awry.

She leaped back and dodged in time for another swipe. If the ranged shotlocks burned like this, what about being scratched by the thing's claws?

 

*

 

_Yume and her companion noticed was the fact that two adults disappeared each week. No one had noticed this because there was a small stream of newcomers coming in, around one or two each week. The guards had announced that the ones who were no longer here had been given homes somewhere in the city and were doing alright._

_Yume didn't buy it, and neither did her friend._

_One night, they decided to sneak out of their sleeping quarters, planning on investigating. They had seen every inch of the castle above, but the suspicious areas were down below, where restricted areas lie. It was late in the night when they had done so, with no one awake to patrol the mazelike hallways._

_They found rooms and rooms of other living quarters for the people taken in by the castle, but what they really discovered hit them like a truck._

_It was a laboratory, and in the center of it is a large sphere with cylinders under it, capable of holding an adult. The sphere was connected to the cylinders by pipes, and it looks like the pipes are feeding something into the sphere. Or was it the other way around?_

_They were too shocked to see what else in the room was there. They didn't bother to see that everyone in the basement would be directly involved with the thing they were seeing right now. What they knew was the fact that the missing adults weren't in their new homes._

_They were subjected here instead, in some machine they couldn't comprehend._

_Yume was too petrified to dare see more. And just like that, she backed away and ran, leaving her friend behind._

_The next morning, he told her everything. About the machine. About why they were really here. She stopped being enthusiastic about working here. Instead, like her companion, she became silent, alert about everything that happened. And ironically, this was the advice she received before stepping in this place._

_The newcomers stopped coming in. People started to notice how more and more people are missing, and soon more restricted areas were announced, and a curfew was set._

_Then, after many uneventful weeks, Yume was called._

*

 

By now, the two were equally wounded. She had cuts all over her, albeit small, while the heartless was missing an arm.

It charged at her again, and she dodged. She was out of elixirs, having used the last one to give her a boost to dodge another shotlock. She could tell that it was tired, but it doesn't mean that she had the upper hand with a better stamina. 

 

In fact, she might as well be even more exhausted.

 

Another swipe, and she nearly missed by a hair. The resulting cut formed across her cheek, and she leaped back onto a much higher ground.

There was one thing she could do. The last possible option to be able to end this if things go well. 

Ragnarok. The shotlock comprising of light rays, the exact opposite to what her enemy would do. She could tell that it was doing the same, with how it moved back and stood still, recuperating and preparing to charge.

Gritting her teeth, she did the same.

 

_It's life or death at this point._

 

_If we are the same person, who will fade away? Whose will shall carry on to our somebody?_

 

*

_She resisted. She didn't want to be separated, and she didn't want to wind up like the adults, who became dark beings and lost everything that makes them human. She was the first child to be called, and she remembered seeing her friend following her in secret._

_She was tossed into the cylinder, the lid closing on her with a loud thud, sealing her in the claustrophobia triggering coffin._

_Is she going to die like this?_

_She was banging her fists against the lid. She didn't want to die. She still wanted to live, as bad as her life can be as a homeless orphan. She wanted to accomplish so many things, all of which she had already planned out._

_She started to cry right then._

_The scientists paused before inputting a bunch of nonsense on the computer. One of them looked at her with a blank face, and then towards the back._

_Somewhere in the shadows, she saw him. A boy hiding behind them, ready to strike. She didn't stop her act, knowing it would be odd for her to suddenly become calm. So she continued crying._

_She watched one of them tap something on the computer, and she cried even more. She wanted him to break her out now, before something starts._

_The moment he finally knocks out the scientists and starts wrecking the machine, gas fills the chamber._

_The anesthesia knocked her out already before he could break open the coffin._

 

*

 

Tears streaked her cheeks as she started the charge. The memories were coming back, and they were doing so at the worst time. She's rather remember after the battle, sitting down on her bed and letting it all come to her in a tsunami.

The memories just gently flowed into her like a stream.

They released first, the dark rays cutting her more, but she was ready.

She unleashed the beams of light, all scattering around and homing into its sides, its unguarded weak spots. But it didn't counter the rays that were heading straight for her, forcing her to withstand more cuts and scars.

She kept on concentrating her magic, directing all of the light to its sides and to its back, especially the nape. She wondered what it would feel like if she had cut its head clean off.  
  
She winced again, and took in a deep breath, praying that this desperate, final attack could finally finish them off.

 

*

_She was half awake._

_Awake enough to know she's awake, but unable to register what was going on._

_She could see what was happening. The glass wall of the cylinder breaking. How he had pulled her out before the guards arrived. How he carried her on his back as the two went out of the lab, outrunning the guards and trying to escape the castle._

_How he almost tripped and accidentally dropped her on the floor._

_She was too late to regain her senses, and she had to watch him run away from her as he told her to run ahead when she finally managed to stand up. She watched the guards, unaware of her presence, surround him and ended his life._

_She ran without a sound, before they could notice her._

_She saw him in his last moments, when he smiled at her and whispered for her to live on._

_The guards caught her when she reached the exit, however._

_In her last moments, in her rage and despair and grief, she vowed to get her revenge._  

 

*

 

She ran out of energy. The light rays stopped coming, and she still had to dodge the black streaks that were almost out as well.

But she was so tired. She couldn't move anymore.

 

She was drained.

 

More questions filled her head. If she was the real deal, why is her Heartless turning against her? Who’s heartless is it? Is she really a Nobody? 

She tried to put up a barrier of wind again, but it proved futile. 

She was knocked back, landing headfirst onto the gravel. Her head throbbed, and she wondered if she was concussed. She could barely stand now, struggling to sit up. 

She watched the heartless walk closer, and she came to the thought that she is going to die for the second time again.

She didn't resist when it held her up by her throat. It didn't seem to be choking her, either. 

 

"Nazo." She said aloud. "I'm sorry."

 

Taken aback, the Heartless paused.

 

And that gave her time to summon her throwing knife and stab it right where its heart should be. 

 

*

 

The cleanup was finally over. The castle basement was cleared through and through, and the freaky machine properly destroyed beyond repair. The team would get to sealing the castle later, making sure that they seal it off from the world permanently. The process would take some time, as some things still had to be moved out, like the computer software. They had to make sure that no one would ever come back for whatever reasons possible.

Just like the others, Riku was tired and aching all over, but that problem could be easily solved with a potion or two, which were already exhausted. 

He still had Yume's elixir with him. He didn't know whether it was right of him to use it. Thinking about having it with him made him feel like a hoarder. 

He offered to go back to HQ for retrieving more supplies, especially more potions and the like. The others were working extra by re-surveying the castle and noting which items would be brought out and which would be better left behind and forgotten. 

The only reason he would even want to do it in the first place was because he was worried about her.

His heartbeat grew faster and faster for some reason, anxious to find out if she's injured. She would be in some ways, but it didn't change the fact that she would have a chance of dying against the heartless.

The plaza started to come into view now, and the sight was horrible.

How is it possible for a duel against two people to cause this much damage in just one spot? 

The dark residues had all disappeared, one thing's for sure. Riku ignored the broken planters and dented pathways and scanned the area for the girl, who hasn't been seen yet.

 

_Where are you?_

 

*

 

Ienzo and the other survivors had volunteered to help out. No one else knew the castle better than them, and it was a given fact. 

The moment all of them went back inside, he wanted to search for something that had boggled his memory for some time. He knew that the human experimentations were taking place in the basement, but given his age, he was never really allowed to help out much when it came to practical experiments. He was more of a theory person, frankly. 

None of the logs were typed into the computer. That was one thing Lea forgot.

Splitting off and walking alone, Ienzo mindlessly walked towards the private quarters of the guards and the researchers, locating the bookshelves where all of their logs related to the experiments were kept.

He had heard it well. It was clear in his ears when he had heard the brief conversation of how a child was murdered and how another was shoved in.

It seemed that they knew the truth.

Ienzo remembered the girl. She was a poor being, who had an unhappy childhood as a somebody, and as a Nobody unable to fully grasp who she really is; as far as he could tell from Lea’s stories. He never personally met her.

 

Neither a Nobody, nor a Heartless. Just another person, just as alive as the next. The term Nobody is just another identity, but it doesn’t affect the fact that she is still a living, breathing person.

 

"What are you doing, Ienzo?" Lea's voice echoed from behind him.

 

Ienzo merely chuckles to himself. "Just reconfirming something from long ago."

"I think you should let the past stay there, Ienzo." Lea sighs. "It's better off that way."

 

*

 

Dark, clean cuts were all over her body, oosing darkness as time passes. 

She would die any moment without proper treatment.

 

Already out of stock of healing items, all she could do at this point was to even out her breathing into long, steady inhales and deep exhales until the time would come for her to finally leave. 

She was immobilized as a result of her injuries. It felt like the darkness is taking out all of her energy and she couldn't do a thing about it. Just like light, no one knew how darkness itself behaved, and not many of those curious people would dare investigating and researching on light and darkness without risking their own lives. 

She wondered how the gang are faring in the castle. This whole mess of an outbreak would finally be over once the castle basement has been rid of the heartless that remained there before the world was initially destroyed. 

She wondered about Riku. How will she face him properly, without any other urgent distractions like their own duties, after all of this?

 

She regretted not talking more with him. They had the time to do so, and she never took the opportunity.

 

"Yume?"

 

Speak of the devil, there he is.

 

He looked like he saw a ghost. 

 

Rushing over to her, Riku looked frantic. Wasn't this an expected outcome when fighting a very powerful being? Did she look worse than she thought? 

 

"Hi." She managed to say, her voice small and strained.

 

Riku kneeled beside her. "Yume. Why?"

 

Yume paused. What is that supposed to mean? How is a 'why?' Supposed to fit in this? 

 

"You're not going to die on me, are you?"

 

Yume felt like groaning. "You're being too dramatic, Riku. I'm still alive."

Riku remained silent. Of course he would. He reached for her hand and held it tightly. Wordlessly, Riku went and took out a vial, the same one Yume had given him before setting off for Lea. 

"Are you planning on healing me with that?" Yume asked. "Riku, it's not going to-"

Riku had downed the vial in one go and immediately leaned into her. He brought his lips to hers, helping her with drinking her elixir. Yume was pretty sure that he knew it was worthless, and a tiny part of her had the suspicion that he just wanted a reason to kiss her.

Although the elixir didn't do much, at least she felt calmer and less in pain, despite the fact that now with the source coming from the dark cuts, the pain felt worse.

 

She could feel her face growing redder and redder.

 

"Come on." Riku quickly stated. "Let's get you someplace safe.”

 

"Alright.”


	6. Chapter 6

Aerith had sent Yume to bed when she was patched up and considerably healed to a degree. Yume didn't protest, and Riku had walked Yume home and stayed there until she fell asleep. Neither had said a thing about the kiss they shared, and Yume was too tired to think about why Riku would do such a thing.

By the time Yume was awake, everything that could be done in Radiant Garden has already been done. The castle was sealed, the Plaza was undergoing renovations, and the people have started to readjust. 

Even she had to reconsider everything. She's a Nobody, that's the given fact Lea had verified. But at the same time, she's still human like everyone else. Heck, no one could even tell the difference.

She cried on the first day she was awake and rested on the second.

Lea came on the third day, with questions to ask if not for his concern about her health. 

"I'm sorry about forcing the truth on you." He began. 

"It's alright."

Things have been awkward between them since the day when she stormed out from him. 

Yume was suspended from helping out in committee activities. She didn't mind that decision not one bit, surprisingly. Her wounds and battle scars weren't healed yet, and she found the majority of the people worried for the hero who took down the source of the heartless outbreak. She found herself to be tired day after day, week after week.

"Yume.." he speaks out. "Just who are you?"

She felt like laughing for some reason. 

 

"I'm just a Nobody who can't tell the difference between what's real and what's not."

 

Lea shifted in his position, feeling guilty. "Ienzo told me everything. Your friend-"

"Was the person my heartless took form of." She cuts. "It appears that a Nobody and a Heartless of the same person cannot exist at the same time within such close proximity, and somehow it felt like my Heartless was feeding me fake memories to tell me that I shouldn't even exist."

Lea was at a loss of words. "So I was right?"

She smiled bittersweetly. "Yeah."

"But why did that Heartless take your friend's figure?" He continued, seeing that Yume didn't mind anymore. 

"Before my Somebody died.." She grimaced uncomfortably saying it. "She vowed revenge against the unfair actions against the poor, and vowed revenge on the people that killed her friend. That rage went into her Heartless, and that Heartless took after her friend because of his determination."

Lea stayed silent.

 

After a while, he spoke again. 

 

"I'm sorry for not being able to take care of you properly."

"At least you tried." She shrugs. 

Lea didn't like seeing her so calm. It wasn't _her._

"What's going to happen to you? Your wounds.." he didn't finish his sentence. 

 

She smiles a little, as if she has accepted her fate. 

 

"We'll just have to wait and see."

 

She didn't tell him the truth when he left her house. 

 

Aerith couldn't give her any more salves and tonics and pills that could dissipate her dark scars and regenerate her energy. She didn't blame her for that, and Aerith promised to keep the truth a secret from the others. 

 

Because she wasn't healing. Not one bit. 

 

She was dying.

 

*

 

Riku stayed back to help patch up Radiant Garden, curious to see how it really was before the world was destroyed the first time. No one would know that he purposely stayed back, knowing how it would be impossible for him to relay their message. In turn, they never estimated when he would return.

"You stayed back for her, didn't you?" Lea raised a suspicious eyebrow one day. Riku just shrugged.

 

It was raining when Riku found Yume walking outside in the gardens, soaked to the bone and staring up at the sky.

   
"Yume." He calls out, approaching the lonesome person. "What are you doing out here?"

She doesn't even bother to look into his eyes. Is she truly alright?

"I like standing in the rain." She says softly. "Listening to the raindrops hitting the ground is very calming."

Riku takes her hand. "You're going to get worse standing out here, you know." He tells her, urging her to come back inside. "Come on, let's go back."

 

Yume starts to frown a little. What is going on in her head? When has she started to act this strangely?

 

"Yume," he calls out again. Two feet apart from each other, he felt like she was miles away. "Please, talk to me.

"Why did you kiss me?" she asks, releasing her hand from his grip.

 

When he couldn't answer, she changed the subject, turning around looking at the mountains that surrounded the world. The sun was beginning to set, and the sky was turning several shades of pink. 

 

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She quietly spoke. 

Yume glances at him when he doesn’t answer, disregarding his hesitance. "What's it like back in your world?"

 

"It's all ocean waves and beaches and palm trees.” He answers anyway, a little creeped out by her behavior. “You could say that our world's made up of islands."  
  
"That's nice."

 

"Yume." 

"Yes?" She replied. 

The tone in her voice wasn’t healthy. She was smiling, yet the state of her body wasn’t following through. Bandages were poking out from under her hoodie and visible through her stockings. 

She smiled like someone facing death. 

"Never mind." He shakes it off. 

 

He can't tell her that he has a crush on her when she is acting like this, can he?

 

"Riku, why are you here?" She asked, trying not to sound rude. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Riku paused, meeting her eyes. He seemed to be caught off guard, given his speechless response. 

 

She starts speaking before he could explain himself.

 

"Love is complicated, isn't it?" She laughs out loud.

 

"What?"

 

She laughs again, and Riku could feel the bitterness coming out of it. "Did you kiss me because you liked me, Riku? Because you felt that you need to protect me, Riku?"   
  
Riku couldn't find the words to say anything. Was he deluding himself? Is he lying to himself by denying it?

How did he really feel about her this whole time, now that they’ve come to this point where he has to make everything clear?

"You're not being yourself, Yume." He adds, unable to say anything else.

She laughs again.

"It was nice knowing you, Riku." She smiles, kissing him on the cheek as she goes.

She left Riku standing alone in the gardens, stunned.

 

*

 

Lea came to see her the day after.

   

He didn't look happy.

 

"Why didn't you tell me?" He almost cried out.

"I never planned on telling you." she spoke up, not bothering to question how he knew. "I thought you knew this would eventually happen, knowing Nobodies and all. Our bodies would not last after sustaining a large amount of damage, you had stated once."

Lea runs his hands though his spiky hair, exasperated. "I didn't think it would come this early.."

All she can do is smile sadly. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”

He sighs. “I’ll still be upset even if you did.”

 

Silence.

 

“You’ll come back, won’t you?” He asks softly. “Is this really it for you? For the bonds you’ve made with everyone?”

She shrugs and goes past him, heading back into her house.

 

“Goodbye, Lea.”

 

She tries not to cry.

 

_I’ll miss you._


	7. Epilouge

_the last breath_

     

She closed the door behind her. The rain had soaked her auburn hair and her grey stockings had became see through as a result, but she didn’t care

She strode to the window, drawing the curtains close. She doesn’t need light to do this anyway.

She pulled off her grey hoodie and neatly set it on a chair, the keychain to her keyblade snugly hidden within its pocket.

She peeled off her stockings, the only thing covering her light chocolate colored legs. She rarely wore pants, not even a pair of shorts, opting for the lighter clothing that was dark enough to pass off as pants.

She moved on to the button down two toned sweater that reached to her upper thighs. Black to the left, white to the right. She noticed that her scars hadn’t faded yet, as she slowly removed the bandages that served more towards concealing her wounds instead of trying to heal it.

She replaced her wet clothes with drier ones as she untied her hair, the clip keeping it up in an updo. She had long gotten used to walking with wounds, no longer wincing with every step she took.

She saw a small sliver of light bleeding through the curtains and watch it die down as she lay on her bed.

 

How many more nights will she spend before she finally passes? The question repeated itself. Lea had told her once that if a Nobody used up all of their energy at once or sustained a great deal of damage, they may as well become marked for death, their days and nights numbered.

Only unlike actual death, they’ll just wake up again.

Will they?

 

Is her true somebody waiting to be awakened? Or is she the lingering spirit waiting to return once she falls asleep for good?

Would she see her friend again? The one who died in vain?

She took in another breath. She knew in a way, that today was her last. She knew that she wouldn’t see this sliver of light, the one thing many people crave dearly in the event they become plunged into darkness; ever again.

 

She had said her goodbyes. She had nothing to do with the people and comrades she has met and fought with together. She did what she had to do before leaving already. She shouldn’t find any reason to want to remain here in the event that she never wakes up again.

 

She was prepared for this.

 

But then, why.. why is she shaking? Why is she becoming anxious and fearful?

 

She knows that she shouldn’t have existed, with being a Nobody and all. She knows that she is supposed to be dead in the first place.

 

She takes in another deep breath. It’s starting to become harder and harder. Her eyelids are falling, and yet..

 

And yet, she still wants to see the sun rise everyday.

 

She wondered if she was just exaggerating and deluding herself. She might be sleepy, for all she knows.

She took in a deep breath again and thought about going to sleep.

_Yeah. I’m just going to sleep and wake up tomorrow, right?_

She breathed in again.

 

And that was it.

 

* * *

 

_the first breath_

 

 

The heartbeats were subtle. You could barely feel it, but if you waited long enough, you can sense the small bump against your thumb.

 

Lea thought he was dreaming when she showed up in the Mysterious Tower. He thought she would never return.

 

It’s been two years since he had seen her alive. The next time he saw her, she was on her bed, pale and unmoving. Riku had already left by then.

 

It’s strange to see how a Nobody passes. Some of them freeze up. Others burn away into nothing. A majority collapses into the light.

Yume was different. Instead of going away within minutes, she simply fades away.

 

Color returns to her face. Lea is holding onto her hand tighter. He looks around for Yen Sid and finds no one nearby.

Her eyes jolts awake. Lea releases immediately as she gasps awake for air.

She places a hand on the left side of her chest. She is still in shock – feeling the beating of her heart. Blood rushing across their body. Something she hasn’t felt before.

Her gaze is distant, focusing on nothing. Lea is still staring at her eyes, as if he doesn’t know she has sat up already.

 

Her eyes.

 

He could never forget them.

 

It’s not like the cold, evil ones Xehanort possessed.

It was warm like the sun, but still piercing in every way, as if they glowed.

 

Yume looks up and sees the stars. Her eyes glisten with tears as everything that happened rushes back. All the memories as a Nobody. The memories she had before she died as a Somebody.

 

“Yume.” Lea whispers, not daring to call her name out loud, like she’d break or something.

 

This must be a lot for her to process.

 

She doesn’t say anything.

 

Instead, she pulls out something from her jacket – the hoodie she always wore back then – and retrieves something small and fragile.

 

She holds out her hand towards the distance, taking a deep breath as light concentrates within the palm of her hand.

 

Windcleaver has returned in her hands, light as ever.

 

“Guess I’m still a Keyblade wielder.” She mutters under her breath.

 

“Yume.” Lea calls out again, bewildered.

She smiles a little. “Lea.”


End file.
